Ice skating in Hyde Park

The adventure that we had today was to go ice skating in Hyde Park with Katherine and Bronwen. I had seen it advertised in the paper that there was a winter wonderland all set up in Hyde Park. I thought it would be a good way to catch up with Bronwen and Katherine before Bronwen goes home for Christmas. It was not an easy thing to organise around everyone work life, but in the end it happened.

Kyle and I had some fun trying to get into London. When we got to the station to leave we discovered that our train was delayed by about 10min. No big deal we are not really in a rush, we left in plenty of time. Then our train was delayed a further 10min, this was starting to get annoying. It was cold and very windy so I was starting to get cold.  When the train finally arrived it was about 30min late. It wasn’t till we were on the train that the conductor apologised for the delay and explained that someone had died on the tracks at New Malden. I don’t think it happened all that long before we got on the train. Once we got to Waterloo we discovered what bedlam looks like. On the platform there were people everywhere to the point we could just move. The bulk of the people were just standing there looking at the boards of what train was doing what to see when they could get home. To top it off they closed the underground entrance because of overcrowding and had to wait for them to open it again. It wasn’t a long wait but still annoying. Once on the underground there were people everywhere trying to get on trains and off. It took a while but we finally arrived to meet Bronwen and Katherine.

Katherine, Bronwen and kyle with muddled wine 

Kyle and I met the other 2 at Hyde Park Corner to then enter the winter wonderland. It wasn’t far so, not a long walk. Once we were inside we had to buy tickets for the ice skating. We wanted to do the 7.45pm session but it had all sold out so we went for the next one of 9pm. After buying the tickets we went exploring. The wonderland was amazing! Everything was set up wooden stalls with pitched rooves and painted white. They all had their own design put on top so some had a talking moose head others just had snow flacks. They had food stalls all set up selling burgers, crapes and German sausages. We decided we should do a lap and see what there is then decided what to eat. While wondering we found all sorts of carnival rides. One in particular looked good and it was the hall of mirrors. They had a mechanical Santa out the front that was laughing, but he was not just laughing like you think he would be laughing. Instead he was sitting in a chair and his top half was just flopping all over the place manically, it was amusing and creepy.

one of the carnival rides

giant Ferris Wheel. Not as big as the eye

another carnival ride

outside the haunted house ride

There were also lots of stalls selling handmade things from winter hats to candles. We liked the stalls that had animal hats. We had fun running round trying them all on. I would have bought one if they had a giraffe but no one had one.

Inside the winter wonderland there was a carousal bar. Kyle thought it was fabulous because he thought it was from the movie fear and thoathing in Las Vegas. So we stopped and had a drink just to go round. We thought it would have been over priced but it wasn’t too bad. We stayed on it for about 4 rotations so about 20min then decided it was time to move on and do something else.  

The carousel bar

the 3 inside the carousel bar

Now it was time for ice skating. We had to get there 20min before our session to put on the ice skates and put our bags into the cloak room. The skates were not that comfortable to ware. To have them tight enough so they don’t fall off but loose enough so you can still feel your feet was a fine line. I think I have that fine line so it was time to head out onto the ice. Kyle and I had iced skated many years ago same with Bronwen but Katherine had never ice skated before. She had been roller blading once many years before so this was going to be interesting to pick up. Once on the ice Kyle just skated away so did Bronwen. I was a little tentative but by about half way round I got the hang of it again. After 1 loop I discovered that Katherine was still at the start and had not let go of the side. So it was time to help. After a couple of laps of holding on she got the hang of it and was skating on her own navigating her way round people. She just needed someone to show her the basics and she just got the rest.

Kyle ice skating

Bronwen Ice Skating

Look at that concentration

We all happily skated round and round for the hour. Katherine and I decided to get off the ice about 5min before everyone else to avoid the queues to get and return shoes and bags. There were about 150 people on the ice so bedlam once off the ice.

It was time to head home now. All the stalls had closed for the night. We headed to the station to underground it to waterloo. Once at the station we left Bronwen behind because she had to top up her oyster card and there was a very long que. We left Katherine at Green Park because she was taking a different train to where she needed to go. Once at waterloo was discovered that the problem with the trains had not resolved in 4 and a bit hours. So we hung around the station deciding what to do. There were just no trains going where we needed to go. So in the end we called Trish and Michael hoping they were still awake and lets us uses a bed for the night. Luck was on our side and they were still awake. We caught the underground to their place and stayed the night and headed home in the morning. If we decided to wait for a train we may have never gotten home or it would have cost a lot of money.

Ice skating was a lot of fun. Now I know why there are like 10 ice rinks that have sprung up in London alone for the winter season. 

Katherine trying on amusing hats

The ice rink